Foraminifera series

Figure 4 Mg/Ca of different planktonic foraminifera from a Bermuda sediment trap time series, plotted versus calcification temperatures calculated from the oxygen isotopic composition of the shells (Anand et aL, 2003) (reproduced by permission of American Geophysical Union from Paleoceanography 2003, 18, 1050). The aggregate fit to all the data in the plot is Mg/Ca = 0.38 exp(0.09T), very similar to relationships derived from culturing and core-top studies.

Anand P., Elderfield H., and Conte M. H. (2003) Calibration of Mg/Ca thermometry in planktonic foraminifera from a sediment trap time series. Paleoceanography 18(2), 1050, doi 10.1029/2002PA000846. 

Planktonic foraminifera secrete tests of Low Magnesium Calcite. Each test consists of a series of... 

Kucera, M. Darling, K. F. 2002. Cryptic species of planktonic foraminifera their effect on palaeoceano-graphic reconstructions. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society of London Series A, 360, 695-718. 

Bernhard, J. M. Bowser, S. S. 1992. Bacterial biofilms as a trophic resource for certain foraminifera. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 83, 263 -272. 

Herb, R. 1971. Distribution of Recent benthonic foraminifera in the Drake Passage. In Llano, G. A. Wallen, I. E. (eds) Biology of Antarctic Seas IV. Antarctic Research Series, 17. American Geophysical Union, Washington DC, 251-300. 

Nomaki, H., Heinz, P., Nakatsuka, T. et al. 2006. Different ingestion patterns of C labelled bacteria and algae by deep-sea benthic foraminifera. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 310, 95-108. 

SuHR, S. B., Pond, D. W., Gooday, A. J. Smith, C. R. 2003. Selective feeding by foraminifera on phytodetritus on the western Antarctic Peninsula shelf evidence from fatty acid biomarker analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 262, 153-162. 

Corliss, B. H., McCorkle, D. C. Higdon, D. M. 2002. A time series of the carbon isotopic composition of deep-sea benthic foraminifera. Paieoceanography, 17, 1036, doi 10.1029/2001PA000664. 

One such proxy makes use of element ratios. For example, the ratio of Cd to Ca in foraminiferal tests is a proxy for the PO4 content of the past water mass in which the foraminifera formed and therefore provides information on the past thermohaline circulation. This tracer is explained in detail in the article on trace elements in foraminiferal tests. Similarly, the ratio of the intermediate uranium decay products Pa and °Th, measured in bulk sediment, may under certain conditions provide information on the advection of water masses in the overlying water column in the past see Cosmogenic Isotopes and Uranium-Thorium Series Isotopes in Ocean Profiles). Isotope ratios are ideally suited as long-term proxy tracers. Some of these isotope ratios are characteristic of certain seawater properties and... 

Grzybowski described the foraminifera from the Carpathians in a series of monographs and then applied his findings to foraminifera from the Galician oil fields. He was soon able to demonstrate that it was possible to correlate subsurface strata in wells drilled for petroleum exploration using these fossils. The methods pioneered by Grzybowski continue to be used, and the study of microorganisms has been very much centered on the requirements of the petroleum industry. 

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